Yoga for Intermediates

with Rodney Yee

While the tape is called "Yoga for Intermediates" I think that this is
MAINLY accessible for any non-rank beginning yoga practioner. Rodney Yee's
instruction is good enough to bring MOST of the poses within reach of anyone
willing to press on (more on this in a bit). Don't let the 70-minute
length, according to the box, fool you; this tape clocks in a spit under an
hour.

He starts off with a standing series which begins with a few sun salutation
As and Bs. I found that he seemed to rush these; he barely had enough time
to say the directions before that part of the pose changed. Then there are
a few triangle poses, forward bends and some of my favorite poses, warrior 3
(a single-leg balance) and half moon (a leg and arm balance). This part is
roughly 20 minutes.

The next section is the inversion section, which with I have the most
criticism. There are 3 poses in this section; handstand, scorpion?
(fore-arm stand) and headstand. I feel that he should have reversed the
order. By starting with headstand you can get used to being upside down
without the additional terror of supporting your whole body with just your
hands. Then, perhaps, by the time handstand comes your confidence might
have been built up. My other problem with this section is that, although he
does have you practice kicking up against a wall before actually going into
the pose (beware all of you with sheetrock walls!) there is an intermediate
way of doing these poses with your feet on a solid piece of furniture, while
the rest of you is in correct form. Propping your feet can go a long way
toward beginning to get a feel for the pose before making a full commitment.
I truly wish he had included demonstrations of the intermediate way to
balance and build confidence in these poses. Any non-daredevil beginner
could fast forward through this section.
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The next section includes some simple backbends.

The final section has some very nice, relaxing, seated twists.

His instruction varies from new-agey stuff along the lines of "you are the
earth" to very helpful physical advice, such as "let the spine cascade down
the leg." Personally I prefer the more concrete directions. The music is
cello (I think) and doodook. Mainly it is not intrusive, except for during
shoulder stand where it sounded very gloomy.

My other quibble with the tape is minor and most likely concerns Yoga
Journal's video editorial decision to have the pose names in English only.
I love learning the Sanskrit names in yoga and find the omission glaring and
too westernized.

This video flows well, is not boring, and had the amazing ability to relax
me even as a backhoe dug up my entire front yard while I practiced. Very
few tapes could make me feel calm and centered during street repair season,
but this one does.

Fran Goldsmith
1/12/01

I have mixed feelings about this tape.

It was an excellent workout that focused on many poses that I am interested in. I particularly enjoyed the beginning section Ė fast sun salutations utilizing plank for strength to warm-up for more vigorous poses. He continued into triangle pose, reverse triangle (love this for balance) warrior 1,2 and 3 with balance included. Rodneyís voiceover instruction is always excellent and I like how he directs the viewer to take it to their limit.

The second part of the tape was inversion poses. This was where I wasnít sure I was enjoying myself. He did a hand stand (all with the wall for support) arm stand, and headstand (the only one I was brave enough to try). He then proceeded into plough, shoulder stand (for a long time) and several sets of bridges and backbends. I suppose I am too new to many of these inversion postures and will have to take my time working up to them.

Rodney then continued with hip openers which I thoroughly enjoyed as I have a tight right hip. He completed different variations of spinal twists, among them lotus prep postures. The difficulty I had with the tape was how hard it was at certain points. Sometimes I was relaxed and able to complete postures and hold for a long time and then during other segments, I felt the workout was beyond me and quite uncomfortable. I will definitely try the workout again, but this is more of an intermediate/low-advanced tape due to the inversion postures and hip openers if you happen to be struggling in that area.

The setting is a beautiful Oceanside view, with Rodney performing the poses on the grass. He uses several yoga props including the strap, block and blankets. I did not use any of these during the workout, but could see how they could help facilitate the poses. I would rate this a B+/A- and would recommend it for the variety of poses he completes in the workout.

The setting and production in this tape is beautiful. It is worth watching just on it's own. Rodney Yee is so smooth, strong & graceful. The instruction is very complete and if you have been doing Iyengar style yoga you will appreciate how in-depth the cueing is. I consider this to be a great tape for developing your home yoga practice.

Loretta Sandoval
4/22/01

This 60-minute yoga workout is designed to be for intermediate-level yoga practitioners, and I think thatís an accurate target audience. Actually, the postures arenít much harder than those in most of Rodneyís beginnerís tapes, but this is longer and besides, Iíve always thought Rodneyís beginner tapes werenít really beginner-level.

The hardest parts of this video, at least for me, are handstands and headstands, which Iím not really ready for, and also a wheel series where he does 3 repetitions. In general, the video goes like this: You start with four sets of sun salutations to get you a little warm, proceed to standing poses and a couple of balancing poses. I love Rodneyís balancing poses, because heís the only one who can get me into them correctly. I can actually do a half-moon with him, but with other instructors, Iím usually falling down more than Iím doing the pose. :)

I may be wrong on the sequencing, but I believe next is a head/handstand series, which I modify with a lot of down dogs. Then there are backbends, and finally shoulderstands. Among all these are standing and sitting forward bends and some twists.

I give this an A+ for everthing: the enjoyment of the workout, the instruction, the scenery and production quality, and the effectiveness.